Kapil Sibal Announces the Launch of IRIS 2007 Winners for IRIS 2006 Rewarded for Pioneering Innovations

Smiling with joy, 6 national IRIS winners accepted certificates of excellence from the Union Minister for Science and Technology & Earth Sciences, Shri Kapil Sibal, when he rewarded them for their thought provoking innovations developed as projects for participation at Initiative for Research & Innovation in Science (IRIS). Declaring IRIS 2007 open from today, Shri Sibal urged students across the country to apply their theoretical knowledge to experiment and design innovations that could benefit the human race. A collaborative effort by Intel, Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), IRIS, India’s biggest science fair was held at New Delhi in December 2006 to promote inventions and innovations amongst school children by encouraging a spirit of discovery in education.

During the ceremony in New Delhi today, the national IRIS winners; Rishin Behl, Vaishnavi Vishwanathan, Tanay David Delima, Nikhil Khosla, Sarvesh Nevatia, and Rehan Netarwla who hail from different parts of the country spoke about their ideas and experiences in developing their innovative projects and participating at the World’s largest Science Fair – Intel International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF). Competing with more than 1500 students from 45+ countries, the Indian Contingent comprising of national IRIS winners bagged 8 awards among 14 scientific project categories at the international fair.

While Rishin Behl won 5 awards for his project on Magnetic Lazer Siesmograph, Ram Raghunathan, Vaishnavi Viswanathan and the team of Tanay David Delima & Nikhil Khosla won one award each for their projects on FDIS: A Fast Frequency Distribution Based Interpolation Search Algorithm for Sorted Arrays, Termite Malady?– A Herbal Remedy and Prevention of vehicular tailgating accidents.

Stressing the importance of innovation in today’s world, Rahul Bedi, Director, Corporate Affairs, South Asia, Intel said that his company is inspired by the ground breaking projects of these young scientists. Tapping the fields of science & math, these students have proved that they are no less in conceptualizing original projects that can help global advancement. IRIS 2007, which would culminate in December 2007 with the announcement of national as well as subject category & special category winners, is inviting entries in 10 scientific categories from students in schools across the country. This year, participants in 3 categories are eligible for participation. The first category involves participation from students in 5th to 8th standard (under the age of 13 yrs), the second category involves 9th to 12th standard (under the age of 20 yrs) and third category involves College/ PG students (under the age of 35 yrs). IRIS is expected to touch over 20 lakh students in 25,000+ schools and institutes in India by 2010.

Source : Press Information Bureau
Date : July 23, 2007